Tongue-support.



No. 779,439. PATENTED JAN. 10, 1905. J, B. OARD. TONGUE SUPPORT.

AETLIGATION FILED APR. 20, 1904.

UNITED STATES Patented January 10, 1905.

PATENT OEEIcE.

JAMES C. OARD, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS, ASSIGN OR TO G. H. ZIMMERMAN AND J. S. EDMUNDSON, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

TONGUE-SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,439, dated January 10, 1905. Application filed April 20, 1904- Serial No. 204,043.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES C. OARD, a citizen of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Tongue-Supports, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to an improvement in wagon-tongue supports; and its object is the provision of a tongue-support which will relieve the horse from the weight of the tongue and which will permit the tongue to be thrown down so that its forward end will rest on the ground when the wagon is not in use.

In the drawings accompanying this specification, wherein a preferable embodiment of my invention is shown, and wherein like letters of reference refer to similar parts in the several views, Figure 1 is a top plan View of the forward portion of a runninggear with my improved tongue-support secured thereto. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is a section on line X X of Fig. 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, A denotes the front axle of a running-gear, and B B the hounds, between the forward ends of which is pivoted in the usual manner the tongue O, all of said parts being of the usual construction. Secured in a very suitable manner to the axle A, directly in rear of the tongue O, is the clip D, which is provided with a pair of downwardly-extending ears (Z, each of which is provided with a plurality of apertures (Z for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth. Secured in any suitable manner to the under side of the tongue adjacent its point of pivotal connection with the hounds and spaced therefrom is the bar E, upon which is adapted to slide the block Bolted to the under side of the tongue O is a small angle-bracket e, the depending arm of which is provided with an aperture adapted to encircle the free end of the bar E, thereby serving to prevent the block c-from slipping thereofl'.

F is a coil-spring secured upon the rod E and interposed between the block 6 and the forward end of said rod, the normal tendency of said spring being to force the block 0 toward the rear end of the rod E.

G is a jointed lever, the forward end of which is provided with an upwardly-extending yoke which is pivotally connected in any suitable manner to the block 6. The rear end of the lever is designed to fit between the depending ears (Z of the clip D, secured to the axle, and is pivotally connected thereto by means of a bolt (Z which passes through any of the pairs of apertures in the clips D and an aperture formed in the end of said lever. The lever G is hinged at a point intermediate its ends to form a knuckle-joint g, which is of such a construction that the sections of the lever are free to move downward, but cannot move upward above a normal longitudinal plane.

H is a yoke-shaped member adapted to straddle the lever G and pivotally secured thereto, preferably by having its sides apertured to receive the ends of the bolt, which constitutes the pivotal connection for the two parts of the lever G. The upper end of the yoke-shaped member H is connected by a chain or other flexible connection it to the rear end of the tongue O.

From the above description it will be seen that the tongue will normally be held in a slightly upwardly inclined position, as shown in Fig. 2, and that the sections of the lever Gr will be held in alinement by means of the spring F, which, through the sliding block 6,

presses on the forward end of said lever, the point of connection between the block a and the forward end of the lever being above the pivotal connection 9 of the lever. If now it is desired to throw the tongue down, so that its forward end will rest on the ground, it is only necessary to slightly depress the same, thereby causing an upward pull on the yokeshaped member H through the chain h, which upward pull will cause the lever Or to knuckle and the block 6 to slide forward on the rod E. The tongue should be depressed until the forward end of the lever G is forced below the pivotal connection 9 of said lever, when the spring E, acting on the forward end of the lever, will force the tongue down against the ground and hold it firmly. To raise the tongue to its normal position, it is necessary to elevate the same until the forward end of the lever is raised above the pivotal connection, when the spring will cause the tongue to complete its upward movement. In practice the chain it is made with some little slack, so that the tongue will be permitted to have a slight vertical movement without causing the lever to knuckle.

It will be seen that the upward inclination of the tongue can be varied by vertically adjusting the rear end of the lever G in the ears (Z of the clip D.

I do not desire to limit myself to the precise form and construction illustrated in the drawings, as it is obvious that many minor changes might be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue, including a knuckle jointed lever between said tongue and a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle.

2. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue,

including a knuckle-jointed lever between said tongue and a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, and a single means for maintaining said knuckle-lever in its various positions.

3. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue, including a knucklejointed lever between said tongue and a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, and a spring for maintaining said knuckle-lever in its various positions.

4. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue, including a knuckle-jointed lever connected at its ends to the tongue and to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle.

5. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue,

including a knuckle-jointed lever connected at its ends to the tongue and to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, and means for holding said lever in either its closed or knuckled position.

6. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue, including a knuckle-jointed lever, the rear end of which is pivotally connected to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle and the forward end of which is slidably connected to the tongue, and a resilient member secured to the tongue and exerting a thrust against the forward end of the lever.

7. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue including a knuckle connection between said tongue and a relatively fixed portion of'the vehicle, means for maintaining said knuckle connection in its closed position, anda connection between the tongue and the knuckle connection, whereby said connection will be knuckled when the tongue is lowered.

8. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted-tongue, of holding means for said tongue including a knuckle jointed lever pivotally connected at its forward end to the tongue and adjustably and pivotally connected at its rear end to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle.

9. In a vehicle, the combination of a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue includinga knuckle-jointed lever pivotally connected at its forward end to the tongue and adjustably and pivotally connected at its rear end to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, and a single means for holding said lever in either its closed or knuckled position.

10. In avehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue including a knucklejointed lever pivotally connected at its forward end to the tongue and adjustably and pivotally connected at its rear end to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, and resilient means for holding said lever in either its closed or knuckled position.

11. In avehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue including a block, slidably secured to said tongue, aknuckle-jointed lever having its forward end pivotally connected to said block and its rear end pivotally connected to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, and a yieldable member secured to said tongue and exerting a thrust against said block.

12. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue including a block, slidably secured to said tongue, a knuckle-jointed lever having its forward end pivotally connected to said block and its rear end pivotally connected to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, a yieldable member secured to said tongue and exerting a thrust against said block, and a connection between the rear end of the tongue and the knuckle-jointed lever.

13. Ina vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue, including a rod secured to the under side of said tongue, a block slidable on said rod, a coiled spring secured on said rod and arranged to exert a thrust on the forward face of said block, and a knuckle-jointed lever, pivotally connected at its front end to the block on the tongue and at its rear end to a relatively fixed portion on the vehicle.

14. In a vehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue, including a rod secured to the under side of the tongue, a block slidable on said rod, a coiled spring secured on said rod and arranged to exert a thrust on the forward face of said block, a clip provided with a pair of depending ears secured to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, and a knucklejointed lever having its forward end pivotally connected to the blockand its rear end adjustably and pivotally secured between the depending ears of the clip.

15. In avehicle, the combination with a pivoted tongue, of holding means for said tongue, including a rod secured to the under side of the tongue, a block slidable on said rod, a coiled spring secured on said rod and arranged to eXert a thrust on the forward face of said block, a clip provided with a pair of depending ears secured to a relatively fixed portion of the vehicle, a knuckle-jointed lever having JAMES C. OARD Witnesses F. R. GooDE, L. M. DAVIDSON. 

